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Tornado Scientists Butt Heads With Storm Chasers
An anonymous reader writes "Tornado researchers say amateurs — inspired by movies like Twister and shows like Storm Chasers — are getting in their way, hampering science and creating hazards. 'Hundreds of camera-toting amateurs in cars ended up chasing the same storms as a fleet of scientific vehicles during the high-profile research project, called Vortex2, which wrapped up data collection this week. At times the line of traffic caused the Midwestern roads to look like the freeways of Los Angeles, said Roger Wakimoto, director of the National Center for Atmospheric Research, during a briefing for reporters this week. "I worry about this as a safety hazard," Mr. Wakimoto said. "These people were blocking our escape routes because of the sheer number of cars."' Storm chasers say they have as much right to watch storms as Ph.D.s."
...of controversy.
For some reason I misread the title as Tornado Scientists Butthurt About Storm Chasers. I can't imagine why.
Bullshit, those storm chasers are not motivated by movies and shows like Twister and Storm Chasers. Everybody knows they are motivated by xkcd. See: http://xkcd.org/752/
I AM BUILDING, thank you very much.
Silly rednecks, you would think they'd know that staying in their trailer park would grant them the best view.
but the "chaser-chaser" chasers. They put the "fun" back into "funnel".
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
They're pretty sure all that science stuff is an elitist, commie, atheist plot to steal their vital bodily fluids and turn them all gay.
dey took errr steerrrrmssss!!!!!
You can't take the sky from me.
and kill two birds with one storm
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - Evelyn Beatrice Hall, re Voltaire
Shouldn't that be, "Tornado Scientists: Butt Heads With Storm Chasers"?
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
I'm amazed we haven't had a fail of epic proportions yet where a storm changes directions and sucks up a bunch of them.
Now that would be some good TV!
In Soviet Russia, storm chases you
"...is it ethical or even morally right to get in the way of real scientists?"
That inspires me. I'm putting a new, giant mirror-reversed-text bumper sticker on the front of my storm chasing vehicle: "Get Out of My Way--I'm a Scientist!"
How much torque can you get from a state-of-the-art rank armature?
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
From the news reports, it is clear that tornadoes actually swerve towards trailer parks... I'm still waiting for the scientists to explain this phenomenom.
When large numbers of beer bellies accumulate in a relatively small area, their sheer mass induces a gravitational anomaly that attracts inclement weather.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Even if it does get them killed, every last one of the bunch stuck in traffic went there knowing they could get blocked in by other people. Who says the PhD types couldn't contribute to some amateurs getting killed? There's a storm that can put a toothpick through an oak tree: everyone running towards it is responsible for their own consequences.
Well, clearly the PHD's just need to call "dibs" on the tornados, blocking the "amateurs" from chasing.
They should call "shotgun". And if the amateurs get in the way, they can always use that shotgun.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.